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New Brighton city staff considers developers for Korean church property

file photo • New Brighton is in discussions with developers looking to redevelop the Korean United Methodist Church site, which the city bought last year for $1.9 million.

Since a city staff team-building retreat in January, New Brighton has been in contact with developers interested in the redevelopment of the city-owned defunct Korean United Methodist Church site, according to the New Brighton City Council’s Feb. 2 workshop memo.

The city is focusing on developers that specialize in multi-family, market rate, senior and affordable housing. But staff has also reached out to developers known for single-family homes and attached and detached townhomes, to “ensure the outreach includes all types of housing” in the hopes of finding “a legitimate redevelopment partner,” according to the memo.

The church, located in the 700 block of Eighth Avenue NW, had been on sale since 2015. The city council submitted a $1.9 million bid for the site in August with plans to raze the 35,000-square-foot church that was built in 1940.

The city council unanimously decided to submit an offer because, according to city documents, the property has appeared in Old Highway 8 Corridor studies dating back to the late-1980s as having potential for redevelopment.